Space Riffs
by Omikami Kazegami
Summary: Haruko is back on Earth, with Superior Raharu hot on her trail. And, of course, Naota is dragged along for the ride.
1. Chapter 1

Authors notes: Well, here's my first proper, really for realy this time, non-OC fic. Apparently OC is bad, as I found out later on.

Anyway! This one's... okay, I guess? Please reveiw, let me know what you think.

A busy city street…

A well-worn road…

A familiar bridge…

Another day in Mabase…

Another _ordinary _day in Mabase.

But maybe not. Perhaps not today. The streets seemed… different today. The people seem agitated. As if they expect something to happen. Not Naota Nandaba, though. He only expects normal things today. As with every day. But that's okay; he's grown to accept this. It's fine.

Today's _normal _day is a Sunday, so Naota has nothing but free time. Trouble is, he's got nothing to spend it on. Gaku, Mashashi and Ninamori are all busy. And he can't stay at home. If he did, he would go mad…

Today's _normal _moment has Naota ambling slowly over Mabase's bridge. Yawning, he remembers the time he and Mamimi had spent under the very same bridge. It had been a frustrating time, but at least He'd always had something to do. He thinks of the day he'd met Haruko… and smiles. In the odd, crushing silence surrounding him, he can almost hear her voice, and his forehead twinges. It'd taken to doing that when he remembered the… _interesting _period he'd spent with Haruko.

Crossing the bridge, Naota continues along the street, grinning widely as he reminisces. ' I wonder how Harukos' doing, wherever she is…' he thinks.

He turns a corner….

It's a pity, too. If Naota had looked to the sky, he would have seen a rather suspicious ball of white light tumbling towards the earth, seemingly out of control. Perhaps he would have made the connection. But he keeps walking, and the ball keeps falling. However, it's not alone for long. Another light is in pursuit, and it's catching up fast. Oddly, the street is empty, devoid of activity, with the exception of a pair of cats, one black and one white…

The original light impacts into the ground with a mighty boom. Street signs explode from their moorings, and the cats flee, with a frightened ' NAAAH!'.

Smoke blows out from all sides, followed by the distinct smell of burning rubber…

A Vespa speeds out from the smoke, it's driver clad in riding gear, a helmet and goggles clamped over their… _her _face. A telltale spray of short pink hair extends from the sides of the helmet. But Naota sees none of this.

Haruko speeds through the city, the ball of light streaming through the sky behind her, homing in on her.

" Not gonna catch me _this _time, Superior. Ain't gonna happen. No way" With this Haruhara revs her Vespa, accelerating hard in a blast of thick smoke.

The pursuing light hits the ground at a slant, almost horizontally; it doesn't even bother to slow down upon impact, the roar of a motorcycle preceding an actual motorcycle leaving the smog ball. Haruko chances a look behind her, and sees a mirror image of herself racing behind her. Haruko pulls her bike into a sharp turn, rounding a corner into an alley with surprising speed.

Superior Raharu looks on with consternation. Attempting the same move, she barely misses the wall, and-… Haruko is nowhere in sight. Superior speeds along the narrow stretch, pulling out into the adjacent street, and narrowly avoiding an oncoming car. Her head pivots on her neck, desperately attempting to catch Haruhara's trail. She was nowhere to be found.

" _Dammit! _"

Superior Raharu pulls a small phone from a pocket, and dials a number:

" Yes, I've lost the target. Permission to deploy? Yes, sir. Immediately. Certainly… " Superior closes the phone, and sighs….

Elsewhere, something rumbles to life within the abandoned Medical Mechanica plant…

But Naota knows of none of this. Naota is going home. But a Vespa is coming closer.

Naota's forehead twinges painfully. Simultaneously, something can be heard thrashing around in the bowels of the colossal iron. Naota's head feels as if it's going to explode… It couldn't be, surely? Not again, not now. And then it happened.

The channel reopened.


	2. Robot Fight!

A steel arm pulled it's way free of Naota's forehead, grasping at the air, as if it were testing it. The arm was quickly followed by a colossal torso, with the other arm shouldered out soon after. If Naota could see the robot properly, he would see that it is double the height of a fully-grown, and especially tall, man. Coloured cold grey, the mechanical horror's hands sports sharpened claws, glinting shallow blue in the sunlight. It's head, disproportionately small in comparison with the rest of it, swivelled, a mechanical whirring following it. It seemed to be searching for something…

It looks down, and notices for the first time the small creature it is currently lodged in. Seemingly repulsed, it launches itself free of Naota's N.O channel. It spins, almost like a dog chasing it's tail, searching. The telltale sound of a Vespa engine can faintly be heard puttering in the distance. The mechanical soldier clicks and whirrs, ancient circuits straining to acknowledge the sound. The Vespa is coming closer…

Naota can hear the sound for the first time. His eyes widen, current events prove to be more than enough evidence to convince him that it could indeed be true. Haruko could be driving that Vespa…

The robot turns, looking into a mysteriously darkened alley, and waits. For several minutes it moves not a… well, the figure of speech demands the word muscle, but it IS a robot… Gear, perhaps? In any case, its mysterious metal workings do not cause it to move for a long while. Finally, a Vespa bursts forth from the narrow street, blasting into daylight almost triumphantly. The Medical Mechanica robot creaks to life, showing speed quite unexpected for a 400 pound 15 foot mechanical killing machine. It seems to blur around the edges, speeding towards the Vespa. With a single blow the metal monster throws the Vespa and it's rider in opposite directions. Almost in slow motion, the riding helmet and goggles fly off Harukos head, totally negating any use they might have otherwise had. Naota's face is the definition of shock:

" _Haruko?! _"

Haruhara looks up at the mention of her name, winded from the hard impact with the pavement:

" Oh. Hi, Takkun. "

" ' Hi Takkun'?! That's all you can say?! What the hell is going _on_, Haruko?"

" Well, if you hadn't noticed, I _was _just attacked by a robot… Hey, that one came out of you head, didn't it?" She already knew the answer.

" Yeah…"

" Well, we'll have to-"

The hulking robot chose that moment to launch another assault on Haruko. Its' sharpened claws scythe towards her face, whistling through the air. At the last moment, Haru-san throws herself out of the way, the sound of metal screeching into contact with concrete following her. She pulls herself to her feet, and dusts herself off. Pulling her double-necked Gibson, a memento from her previous time with Takkun, up from it' s landing spot, she watches with a bemused smile as the robot struggles to pull its' hand out of the road.

" So, Takkun, how've ya been? It's been a while, huh?"

" Well, yeah… Seriously, Haruko, you need to tell me what's going on."

" I can assume that new robot is from Medical Mechanica, and… No, she couldn't have… Sneaky little.."

" What is it, Haruko? What's wrong?"

" N-nothing, Takkun. Nothing at all… yet."

" That sounded more sinister than I think you meant it to. What did you- Whoop, watch out!" Naota ducks, and Haruko follows suit, as a massive claw whizzes by their heads. Naota can't help but break out into a grin as he hears Haruko:

" _**CHANCE!!!!"**_

The Gibson swings upward, smacking the wrist of the robot clean off. Haruko swings it around, taking hold of it neck out, the gun-guitars' barrel pointed into the monsters' chest. She fires one incredibly destructive round into the literal belly of the beast, revealing impossibly complex inner workings, which manage to continue to function around the fireball. Haruko has grabbed Naota by the arm and is hauling him behind a dumpster.

" Stay here, and don't make a sound."

" Well, actually, there is one sound I'd like to make: CANTI! " Naota screams the summons to the high heavens.

Elsewhere the robot with the television head looks up from its work. It looks around, searching for the source of the disturbance. After a while it shrugs, and returns to it's bread making duties.

Naota ad Haruko wait in silence for Canti. Naota checks his watch, looks to the sky, and begins to tap his feet impatiently. Canti does not make an appearance.

" Oh hell." Naota slumps dejectedly.

" Uh, don't worry about it." Haruko jumps the dumpster, ready to finish off the robot, who is currently occupied with jerking in a loop in the middle of the street, smoking gently.

Bass guitar raised above her head, Haruko launches at the robot with a slightly insane grin plastered on her face. With a comical ' CLONG!' her instrument makes contact with a steely forehead, causing a red tinted visor to shatter, the odd material clattering onto the pavement. The large dent, battered into the robots' skull, begins to crackle misdirected electricity, snapped power cables whipping inside the creased shell. The undamaged arm jerks and swings, a last attempt at separating Harukos' head from her shoulders. The dismembering blow instead catches a handful of guitar, before swinging limply to the ground, devoid of power. The hulking metal shell falls backwards, the road cracking under it's massive bulk.

Haruko lands calmly, gracefully, on the side of the road. Slowly, she walks around the metallic corpse, wary of any remaining artificial life within it. When it is apparent that it isn't getting back up, Haruhara strides confidently over to where Naota is standing, peeping over the top of the dumpster (replete with mountainous garbage pile).

" C'mon, Takkun. We need to leave. Fast." Haruko grabs the boy by the arm, pulling him along to her overturned Vespa.

" Haruko, what just happened? I need to know."

With a grunt, the pink-haired girl pulls her Vespa to its wheels, before clambering on and beckoning for Naota to do the same.

" I'm being chased" Haruko begins " My Senior and I had a little… disagreement. Now she's after me, and… And I figured I could hide out with you for a while?"

Haruko looks back at the boy, who's looking a little stunned. She gives her best attempt at a charismatic grin, and the boys' features soften.

" You want to stay with me? " The boy pauses momentarily "… Fine, but you need to tell me exactly what's going on. A lot of this makes no sense."

" Oh, Takkun, you're so generous!" Haruko claps playfully " C'mon, we'd better get out of here. Who _knows _what could be comin' next."

Naota joins her on the Vespa, and she speeds away.


	3. What's with all the guitars?

Authors' Notes: Today is an exciting day. Why? Because I've just obtained and finished the FLCL manga. And quite obviously there are some inconsistencies between this and the manga. I don't know why this is relevant, I've never hinted that this fic was a continuation of the manga, but it just... bothers me is all.

On an unrelated note, I've finally finished planning the full story arc for this here fic. And while it'll take a while to get the set-up done, I do intend to veer away from the same old FLCL style eventually. Hopefully while still maintaining FLCL's charm. Yeah.

Oh, and on one final note I've finally capitalised the title. I can't believe I let that slip. And when I did pick up on it, I didn't save the changes. Ugh.

On with the story.

" So, what was that robot? And why'd it come out of my head _this _time?" Naota looks up at the alien girl.

" Well, it was a Medical Mechanica robot, that's for sure. I mean, you know the plant has been abandoned since Atomsk made his grand appearance last time, but there are still plenty more robots in there, deactivated but waiting for the right person to reactivate them. I guess… Superior Raharu thought that one would do a better job of capturing me than she could. And… She must've known I was going to make a beeline towards you, and so sent it through your N.O channel, Takkun." Harukos' face is heavy with thought.

" Does that mean more might come through?"

" Possibly. I doubt it, though. The Galaxy Space Police don't like attracting attention from… under-developed planets. Superior took a huge risk in activating the last one." The truth was, Haruko really didn't know _what _Superior Raharu was going to do. She is as unpredictable as Haruko herself, although possibly more focussed.

Speaking of which, elsewhere, Superior Raharu was inspecting, from a safely hidden vantage point, the wrecked mechanical soldier. Debating with herself about whether to remove it herself, or allow the humans to clean it up, she rises from the rooftop, reaching for her phone.

" It failed." She says, the words more of a complaint than a statement. " Yes, I understand that. I know she's dangerous. Sir, I-… You want me to what? How can I-… Oh. But sir, how can I possibly get that much energy, there's- Oh. I… Can that be done? Ah, of course. Yes, sir, it will be done. I will not fail again."

Her face grim, lined with worry, Superior Raharu looks to the Medical Mechanica factory and frowns. Slowly, she climbs onto her bike and revs the engine, catapulting through the twilit sky. The odd giant iron grows closer, and Superior braces herself. Without slowing, her motorbike crashes through the wall of the plant, before skidding to a halt. The woman stands up, brushing debris off her clothes, inspecting the scene. The Medical Mechanica plant had quickly succumbed to decay after what was later dubbed ' the Atomsk Incident' by the Galaxy Space Patrol. Parts of the wall seemed to be held up only by the rust coating it. Dust floated freely through the air, so thick that it almost gave Superior the feeling wading through snow when she moved. The gloom filling the single giant room almost dared natural light to enter it. All in all, it was a depressing place.

Trying to touch as little as possible, Superior Raharu wandered slowly into the centre of the plant, noticing the large group of robots slumped dejectedly around the room, devoid of power, the bindings that originally held them up reduced to simple piles of rust.

Superior undid the clasps holding her weapon in place. This particular guitar was the same model as Haruharas' but inverted. Whilst hers was a Rickenbacker Azureglo, Superiors' was a Fireglo. The model was essentially the same, though Harukos' was a completely left-handed model, Superiors' was entirely right-handed. Superior Raharu plays a few notes on the bass guitar, and things within the factory begin to rumble. She plucks the strings faster, and the rumbling increases. Her eyes glowing with an odd, chromatic light, Superiors' hand is a blur across the guitar. Slowly, the metal robots begin to heat up, their outer shells glowing red, illuminating the corners of the factory. Portions of them begin to slough off, melting onto the floor, then mysteriously pooling at Superiors' feet. As more and more molten metal is added to the pool, it slowly begins to rise, a formless shape lifting off the floor, and reaching well above the furiously strumming Superior's head. The molten shape becomes vaguely human, growing rough approximations of arms, legs, and head. Details begin to emerge as the liquid metal quickly cools down. Once again solid, the new fully metal humanoid stands tall. Incredibly tall, in fact. Built like a tank, the beastly mannequin creaks to life. This being is made of solid steel, and yet it moves with ease, testing itself with each new movement, as if the body is alien to it. Superior clears her throat, and the creature snaps to attention… Or rather, clangs to attention.

" Bring me Haruhara Raharu…. Or Haruko, or whatever she's calling herself now! Go!"

The hulking metal monstrosity walks out into the night air, pursuing it's target.


	4. There goes the neighbourhood

Authors Notes: Update again, now featuring Canti as a regular! It surely is great news for all sane people! Yeah, Canti's awesome. Um, anyway, I've just had my Wisdom Teeth extracted, and I'm home all week, so updates should be fairly consistent over that period. In fact, chapter five will probably be online tomorrow. I have a pretty big backlog of chapters, and I'm really happy with how it's turning out, so expect more very soon.

On with the story.

Naota opens the door of the Nandaba family bakery, slipping inside before gesturing for Haruko to do the same.

" Hey! Anyone home?" Grunts of acknowledgement are heard. Canti beeps once, and a large metallic hand appears from a doorway, waving. " We have company!"

Two heads and a T.V poke around various corners curiously.

" Haruko-san?" Said Shigekuni

" Haaaaruko-san!" Drawls Kamon.

An exclamation mark appears on Cantis' screen.

" Hi." Haruko says simply.

" C'mon. We need to talk." Naota grabs Haruko by the arm, pulling her to the stairs.

" Oh, come on, Naota-kun! Don't keep Haruko-san all to yourself!"

" I'll ignore that, Mon-chan. " Haruko notes.

" Ahh, we'll be down in a minute." Naota continues pulling her up the stairs.

Pulling her into his room, Naota shuts the door, and crosses the floor to the window.

" Let's cut the crap, Haruko. Why are you _really _here?"

" Why, whatever do you mean? I did _say _I would be back last time, right?"

" Yes, but when I heard that, I always added ' If I ever need something from you'. You wouldn't just turn up out of the blue with a dangerous woman on your trail. Even you have more common sense than that."

" Oh, Takkun, I'm hurt. But, since you asked, my landing here might have been more… coincidental, than you know. See, Superior… _did _something during our last chase. I didn't see what, but it was like going through an N.O channel. I was on my Vespa, then _BAM _There was a light, and I was somewhere else. Fairly close to Earth, actually. And you're right. I wouldn't have led Superior Raharu to Earth unless I had to. But the… thing that she did. It drained my fuel reserves. I didn't have enough to go anywhere else. Don't know if you've noticed, Takkun, but space is _big_."

" So it was a total coincidence that you're here. Why not just tell me that from the start?"

" Takkun, the last words you said to me, before I left, were ' I love you'. I thought you might have been a little bitter, considering I left you there. I _do _need a place to stay, Takkun. Until I can distract Superior enough that I can get away from Earth without her noticing."

" Okay, I can understand that. But _why _is she chasing you, Haruko? That's what I don't understand. I mean, soon after you left she came outta my head, and says she's after you, before flying off. Why?"

Haruko is silent for a moment, her face dark.

" Atomsk. That's why she's chasing me. My mission was to get in, get Atomsk out, and leave. There's a general truce between the Galaxy Space Patrol and Medical Mechanica, but they'd crossed a line by capturing the Pirate King. He's too dangerous to be contained. I think you remember, Atomsk coming through your N.O channel, before escaping. The destruction he caused, from those few seconds, was incredible."

" I get that. You don't forget something like that. But what does this have to do with Superior Raharu?"

" I'm getting to that. You see, my organization frowns upon unwanted exposure. And, I'm sure you'll agree, nothing gets more attention than a giant phoenix drawing all matter through it's forehead. And the MM plant. I acted recklessly there, feeding you to the Terminal Core. I didn't really know what was going to happen there, and- No, let me finish, Takkun- I was only working under a theory. Earth would've been destroyed if I had been wrong… And I sorta was. Well, to make a long story short, I screwed up. My actions that day led to the Space Patrol being exposed on a planet that would otherwise never have heard of it. That's normally enough to warrant a court martial. But I had also attacked you, when you'd taken the powers of the Pirate King. Technically, that classifies as 'an act of aggression against a neighbouring territory'. I'd at least get life imprisonment for all this. And I can't have that. I haven't gotten Atomsk yet. And that's the truth of it."

" Wow. And you've been chased for two and a half years?"

" It's been that long? Doesn't the time just fly by!"

" Surely you must have a plan? I mean, you can't stay here forever; she'd tear this place apart looking for you! And-"

Just than, a massive fist splits the wall, tearing through the plaster. A massive head pokes through the hole in the wall, and the body it is connected to, which is presumably still on the first floor, strides forward, through the floor as if it were nothing.

" A _golem, _Superior? Really?!"

Haruko leaps up, taking her guitar and her old Rickenbacker from its position on the floor, throwing herself at the golem. Swinging both instruments horizontally, she connects with both sides of the monstrous head, reverberating through the metal.

Canti recovers from being thrown clear through three walls, stands, and begins to climb the hulking metal figure, fingers digging into the solid steel giant. When he reaches the head, the smaller robot begins pounding at it, the metal cracking under his fists.

The golem simply reaches up behind and flicks the robot off.

Haruko launches herself off from the golem face, pausing at her landing spot, her eyes narrowing.

" Oh. That's right."

Walking calmly over to where Naota is sprawled, Haruko lifts her Gibson above her head, before bringing it down on Naotas'.

" Hey! Why are you hitting _me _with that thing?!"

" Damn, I missed the spot…"

The action is repeated, this time knocking Naota out cold. The Golem ceases all movement simultaneously, it's arm freezes in mid punch, a relieved Canti on the receiving end. Wasting no time, Haruko begins attacking the motionless steel warrior, motioning for Canti to do the same.

" Shigekuni! Mon-chan! Get out of the house, quickly! And someone take Naota!" Haruko calls down to the wrecked first floor, where the pair can be seen recovering from the shock.

Slowly, the blows begin to affect the frozen Golem, shattering the metal, and reducing it to rubble. Once the whole creature is no more than gravel, Haruko grabs Canti and dives out a window, landing next to a now conscious Naota, and turning just in time to see the Nandaba bakery collapse.

Stunned silence…

" W-what was that thing?!"

" Haruko-san, what the hell is going on?!"

" Haruko, I don't understand! Why did you hit me?! What was that thing?!"

An exclamation and question mark appear on Cantis' screen.

And then it sinks in.

" OUR HOME!" Three generations of Nandabas shout in unison.

" Oh, Takkun. Are you okay? How is everyone? Anyone hurt? This is all my fault." Haruko is genuinely concerned.

" You know what, Haruko?! No, we are not alright! Our house is _gone_! Because that…. THING, was looking for you! You dragged us into this, and now we're homeless! That's just the kind of irresponsibility I should know to expect from you, but I gave you the benefit of the doubt! Where the hell are we supposed to live, Haruko?!" Naotas' eyes are almost glowing with rage.

" I… I'm so sorry, Takkun. I never suspected that Superior would… What the hell was she thinking? Surely the Commander would never authorize… Well, perhaps for me he would… We need to get out of here soon. Do you have a place where you can stay?"

Away from Earth, at some undiscovered area of the universe, a shadowy figure sits, awaiting a report from Superior Raharu. At the sound of ringing, he pulls a phone from the ether, answering it.

" Report."

" Commander, the golem failed. Raharu stopped the boys' N.O channel from operating."

" Raharu Alpha, your mission is simple enough, no? Find me Raharu Beta, and bring her back by any means necessary. This is your final chance. You know the penalty for failure. Raharu Beta must stand trial for her irresponsible actions. Bring her back, one way or the other."

" Y-yes, Commander. It shall be done."

The Commander shuts the phone, and it disappears from his hand in a swirl of black fog.

Superior Raharu clicks her phone shut with trembling hands.

The Nandaba family, Miyu-Miyu, Canti and Haruko trudge through the streets, carrying only what they could salvage from their wrecked home. Naota is enraged, his fist clenched, he walks as far away from Haruko as he can without leaving the party.

" Takkun, I-"

" Don't talk to me, Haruko."

Haruko lowers her head. " Oh, come on, Takkun! You can't give me the cold shoulder forever. You need me to defend you, 'cause Superior will be after you too now."

Naota stops, spins and walks slowly towards Haruko, his fists clenched.

" Alright, Haruko. If you want to talk, then talk! Tell me what that thing was, what Superior Raharu is, and why she's exactly like you. Go on!"

" Okay."

More Authors' Notes: Okay, quick note about the Golem. I had the idea to destroy the Nandaba bakery, the significance of which I'll explain in the final chapter. I can't do it before without spoiling something. Anyway, I know it's cheesy, but no regular MM robot would do for this job. So I created the golem.

As a final word, please reveiw, and the next chapter is going to be very interesting, so stay tuned!


	5. Mystery boxes OOH

" The thing that attacked us was a golem, a creature of solid metal powered by N.O energy. Understandably, they're fairly rare. Seems Superior was using you as the Golems' 'host'. She was leeching your N.O to power it. Which was why I knocked you out. If you're not conscious, it don't work."

" Yuh-huh. And Superior?"

Haruko grabs Naota by the arm, forcing him to slow down, allowing Kamon and Shigekuni to go ahead. Canti stops, looking as questionably as one without a face can.

" Okay, Takkun. In the Galaxy Space Police Brotherhood, members have a Doppelganger, a double of himself or herself, to act as a sort of partner for them. Though they still go out on single missions, if a situation like mine ever occurs, or if an agent is kidnapped, then the double could go out to retrieve them. It helps that they can guess what the other is thinking."

" So Superior is your double?"

" No, I'm hers. That's why she's the Superior. Don't know if you've noticed, but very few people have an exact double. So generally, the double is cloned."

" You're a clone?!"

" Yup. Please don't think less of me." Haruko smiles.

Naota remains silent and starts walking, " How can you make jokes? My house is gone. My family and I are homeless. A crazed alien is after you, and she has robots helping her. Robots, Haruko. This is no time to be funny."

" Takkun… I-"

" RAHARU!"

The voice comes from the spire of a radio tower. It is Superior Raharu, holding aloft a small box. The box is made of an unidentified metal, the lid latched closed. A strong red glow can be seen from the bottom of the lid.

" Superior! Please tell me that's not what I think it is! You can't release that here! _The Commander would never give you clearance to even carry that down here!"_

" No, Beta! The old fool didn't give me permission to release the Gate! But I've been given an ultimatum. Bring you back, or… Well, you know. So I have no choice. And if I do it right, the old man will never know. If I do it _better, _I can pin it on you!"

" Superior, please! You can't do this. Who knows what it would do to this planet!"

" Then come back peacefully! It's up to you, Beta!"

" You know I can't do that, Superior!" With this, Haruko jumps at Superior, pulling the Rickenbacker from her back.

Superior Raharu pulls the lid from the box.


	6. Could this spell DOOM?

Authors' Notes: Okay, after quite a while, here's the next chapter. I don't know why, but recently I've just been starting a whole lot of fics, and then just leaving them. I've had no time for this one. Um, also I thrive on criticism (or praise. You know what? Praise is better. Use that.), so please reveiw. This thing still has a lot of life left, so let me know how you feel.

Onward!

Red light floods the sky, bursting from the box and almost instantly filling the atmosphere. A roaring sound, like a strong wind, fills the air. An alien creature claws its way from the box, it's movements giving the odd impression that it is falling upwards. The thing expands outwards, growing and towering over the city. At the end of its sudden growth spurt, the creature resembles a tall, thin man, obscured by the red light, looming over the city. Long arms, limp at its' sides, terminate in thin hands, each sporting two fingers and a thumb. The head is entirely featureless, with the exception of two lidless circular eyes, orange in colour, staring out without actually seeing anything. It has a bent posture, an almost defensive crouch. If it had stood tall, it would have pierced the sky itself. Presently, however, it just stood still, frozen in an unsettling pose.

Haruko, in the process of attacking her Superior, is flung backwards, colliding with the pavement and rolling to a stunned Naotas' feet.

Superior looks at the looming being expectantly, waiting for some sign of action. For a minute that stretched into a suspenseful eternity, the Nandaba family, their pet cat, the robot Canti, the pair of Raharus' and a group of curious passers-by stared at the mysterious being. Nothing happens.

" Oh. It hasn't fully developed yet." Haruko whispers to herself.

" Oh, crap." Superior whispers to herself.

" What is that thing?" Naota whispers to no one in particular.

" Why are we whispering?" Kamon whispers to Haruko.

A Question mark, in small font, appears on Cantis' screen. It appears to be directed at Haruko.

Haruko, free from her reverie, looks upward, hoping to catch a glimpse of Superior Raharu. She is gone.

" Hey! While we were all whispering, Superior got away! Damn her, leaving me to clean up her mess!" Haruko says, standing.

" Oh, Haruko. What have you gotten us into now?" Naota whispers, eyes looking fearfully towards the monster.

" We need to get inside. Now." Haruko grabs Naota and Canti, pulling the two along, " C'mon everyone. We need to get out of here."

" Haruko-"

" Not now. We need to regroup first."

Haruko leads the group through the streets of Mabase, pulling the boy and the robot to and fro, while the others struggled to keep up.

" Takkun, would Ninamori let us stay at her place for a while?"

" What? I… I guess so. Her parents would probably let most of us stay." Naota glances back at Kamon.

" Good. Um… I don't know where she lives, so you lead the way, Takkun. Hey, Canti, why aren't you helping to carry some of this junk? C'mon, you're the robot here."

And Haruko was gone, fussing over Canti in the blink of an eye. Naota blinks in disbelief, before turning, beckoning to his family, and walking off. The party follows him, more than happy to retreat from the red creatures' eerie gaze. Haruko catches up with Naota, trotting alongside him, bent slightly to reach his ear.

" Takkun" She whispers, " Things just got really serious. Even if we get to cover, there's nowhere to hide from that thing. And…. I don't know if there's a way to stop it. But we have to try… And I may need your help, and Cantis'. Are you in?"

" D'you have to ask?"

Haruko smiles.


End file.
